Written Answers Tuesday 25 April 2006

Scottish Executive

Access for People with Disabilities

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend section 73 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 to introduce a new offence of refusing to produce a Blue Badge when requested to do so by police, traffic wardens or local authority parking attendants in residential parking bays.

Tavish Scott: Abuse of the Blue Badge Scheme is a serious offence. It deprives disabled people of the freedom and independence often taken for granted by able-bodied members of society.

  It is already classified as an offence to fail to produce a Blue Badge when requested to do so by a police officer, traffic warden or local authority parking attendant. In the event of failure to produce a badge on request, the parked vehicle is then treated as though there is no badge in force, and a fixed penalty ticket issued for any parking offence.

  The Scottish Executive therefore has no plans to amend section 73 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 in this respect.

Agriculture

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the export of live calves.

Ross Finnie: The Executive would prefer to see an export trade in carcases. If, however, calves are exported, they must be transported in accordance with the Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997, which sets down minimum standards and maximum journey times.

Agriculture

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the shooting of male dairy calves soon after birth.

Ross Finnie: Where male dairy calves have little or no value, farmers may make a commercial decision that they should be destroyed shortly after birth. This is legal provided that the operation is conducted in a humane manner and does not cause unnecessary suffering or unnecessary distress.

Agriculture

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is given to farmers to prevent the shooting of male dairy calves shortly after birth.

Ross Finnie: There is no financial support given to farmers to prevent the shooting of male dairy calves. This is a commercial decision made by farmers where there is no market for the calves.

Asylum Seekers

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many asylum seekers are undertaking voluntary work whilst their applications for refugee status are being considered, broken down by local authority area, and what the equivalent figures were for each year since 2000.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive does not have the information to provide an answer to this question.

Bridges

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the examination of the economic, social and environmental impact and cost of retaining or removing tolls from the Forth Bridge, as detailed in amendment S2M-4197.3 in the name of Tavish Scott, will be limited to the impacts on Fife and Dundee or whether it will also include impacts on West Lothian, Midlothian and Edinburgh.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will begin the examination of the economic, social and environmental impact and cost of retaining or removing tolls from the Tay and Forth bridges, on Fife and Dundee.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be of an examination of the economic, social and environmental impact and cost of retaining or removing tolls from the Tay and Forth bridges, on Fife and Dundee.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the examination of the economic, social and environmental impact and cost of retaining or removing tolls from the Tay and forth bridges, on Fife and Dundee, will be published.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who will conduct the research into the examination of the economic, social and environmental impact and cost of retaining or removing tolls from the Tay and Forth bridges, on Fife and Dundee.

Tavish Scott: We will report on the proposals for this study as soon as possible.

Carers

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many paid carers there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Robert Brown: The information requested is shown in the following table.

  Number of Paid Care Workers1 by Local Authority, 1999-2004

  

 Local Authority
 1999
 20002
 20012
 2002
 2003
 2004


 Aberdeen City
 1,127
 1,065
 865
 774
 822
 688


 Aberdeenshire
 1,115
 1,182
 1,138
 1,106
 1,210
 1,292


 Angus
 457
 501
 559
 599
 625
 644


 Argyll and Bute
 553
 569
 660
 747
 597
 632


 Clackmannanshire
 127
 122
 123
 111
 110
 92


 Dumfries and Galloway3
 587
 96
 133
 121
 110
 100


 Dundee City
 862
 708
 752
 847
 824
 782


 East Ayrshire
 499
 437
 443
 431
 482
 615


 East Dunbartonshire
 419
 397
 385
 399
 372
 347


 East Lothian
 481
 478
 502
 480
 465
 489


 East Renfrewshire
 247
 292
 317
 345
 334
 344


 Edinburgh City
 2,568
 2,565
 2,853
 2,778
 2,868
 2,792


 Eilean Siar
 572
 547
 494
 525
 516
 536


 Falkirk
 816
 723
 726
 800
 742
 737


 Fife
 2,180
 2,226
 2,233
 2,319
 2,492
 2,492


 Glasgow City
 1,361
 1,634
 1,518
 1,436
 1,340
 1,324


 Highland4
 1,082
 447
 1,431
 1,404
 1,336
 1,240


 Inverclyde
 450
 604
 565
 504
 509
 446


 Midlothian
 452
 420
 413
 413
 401
 387


 Moray
 516
 516
 387
 427
 351
 435


 North Ayrshire
 579
 649
 629
 751
 665
 654


 North Lanarkshire
 1,493
 1,992
 1,902
 2,183
 2,391
 2,202


 Orkney Islands
 414
 301
 393
 379
 339
 339


 Perth and Kinross
 435
 470
 506
 512
 495
 476


 Renfrewshire
 870
 1,020
 1,042
 1,014
 1,060
 1,110


 Scottish Borders
 790
 695
 774
 832
 740
 864


 Shetland Islands
 421
 436
 441
 377
 389
 451


 South Ayrshire
 488
 455
 433
 500
 441
 615


 South Lanarkshire
 1,220
 1,298
 1,387
 1,439
 1,715
 1,578


 Stirling
 280
 269
 280
 289
 266
 301


 West Dunbartonshire
 717
 671
 719
 725
 817
 695


 West Lothian
 629
 611
 457
 534
 560
 577


 Scotland
 24,807
 24,396
 25,460
 26,101
 26,384
 26,276



  Source: Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services - publications from 1999 to 2004.

  Notes:

  1. For the purposes of this table, Paid Care Workers includes Other Qualified Care Staff and Care staff working in Day Care and Residential Resource Workers, Other Qualified Care Staff and Care Staff working in Residential Accommodation and Home Care Staff (2000-04 only). In 1999, Paid Care Workers included Home Care Staff, Care Staff, Nursery Nurse, Early Education and Childcare Workers, Day Carers and Other Care Staff in Day Care Units and Residential Accommodation.

  2. In 2002, revisions were incorporated into figures for Dundee in relation to 2000, and into figures for Dundee, Highland and West Lothian in relation to 2001.

  3. From 2000-04 the figures for Dumfries and Galloway did not include home care staff.

  4. For 2000 only, the figures for Highland Council did not include home care staff.

  Information on paid care workers employed by Scottish local authorities is available in the annual Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services publications, from 2000 to 2004. The equivalent 1999 publication was titled Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Departments. These are all available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent.

Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of pupils in schools are known to have a nut allergy, shown as a percentage of average class size for (a) nursery, (b) primary and (c) secondary schools.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is not held centrally.

Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue new guidance stating that there should be no nuts or nut products in schools.

Peter Peacock: Guidance for local education authorities and schools on the topic of food allergies, including nuts and nut products, is set out in Hungry for Success , the final report of the Expert Panel on School Meals (November 2004). The Scottish Executive will update its guidance as necessary but currently has no plans to issue new guidance on nuts or nut products in schools.

Justice

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that handheld radar speed guns are a fully reliable means of measuring the speed of motorcycles.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-24362 on 29 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Languages

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are available to schools to help pupils understand the importance to business of modern foreign language skills.

Peter Peacock: In February 2006, the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (SCILT) distributed materials on Languages and Careers to all Primary and Secondary schools in Scotland. This was is supported by a section on careers involving languages on the Modern Foreign Languages Environment (MFLE) for language teachers in Scotland.

  SCILT’s materials highlight the importance of modern foreign language skills for business and include testimonials from young Languages Ambassadors to demonstrate the connections between a wide range of languages and occupations. The materials also contain links to other useful information on languages and business, including the CILT UK Languages Work on-line information portal, which is designed to help careers advisors and teachers to provide guidance on the use of languages at work.

  An electronic version of the materials sent to schools can be found at:

  http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/whatsnew.htm

  The supplementary materials on the MFLE are at:

  http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/mfle/careerswithlanguages/index.asp.

Livestock

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with animal welfare organisations regarding the export of Scottish calves to continental veal farms.

Ross Finnie: There have been no formal discussions with animal welfare organisations regarding the export of calves from Scottish farms.

Livestock

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to taking steps to stop the export of Scottish calves to continental veal farms.

Ross Finnie: It was agreed in March 2006 that EU restrictions on exports from the UK in respect of beef and live animals born after 1 August 1996 would be lifted. We expect that decision to be formally in place on 29 April 2006. The Executive would be acting illegally should it apply measures which prohibit what will shortly be a legitimate trade.

Mental Health

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many facilities offer help in dealing with mental health issues to people under 16, showing the number of places in each facility.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

Older People

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be any additional financial implications for local authority budgets following the recommendations of NHS Lothian’s External Reference Group for Older People’s Services’ Final Report.

Lewis Macdonald: Local authorities are given an annual core local government finance settlement. It is for each local authority to determine its priorities to meet the needs of its resident population.

  I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-24515, 24518 and 24519 on 19 April 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Older People

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when discussions with local authorities about their operation of free personal care will be concluded and how the outcome of those discussions will be communicated to the Parliament.

Lewis Macdonald: Our discussions with local authorities on the operation of free personal care will continue as part of our current policy evaluation and while we consider its implications with all relevant stakeholders. Local authorities are represented on the reference group overseeing this evaluation. We will decide nearer that time how best to communicate the outcomes to the Parliament and other interested parties.

Older People

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when discussions with COSLA about local authorities charging people entitled to free personal care for assistance with meal preparation will be concluded and how the outcome of those discussions will be communicated to the Parliament.

Lewis Macdonald: I will notify the Convener of the Health Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into these and related issues, once discussions with COSLA have concluded.

Post Offices

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the funding of Scottish post offices after 2008.

Ross Finnie: Officials meet regularly to discuss the future of the post office network. I have recently met representatives from Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd, on 14 February 2006, to hear about their trials of innovative methods for postal service provision: and Barry Gardiner MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, on 6 March 2006 to discuss a range of issues relating to post offices. No decision has yet been reached across Government on the future of the post office network.

Post Offices

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any increase in funds provided under the Barnett formula in the event of it having powers, either in whole or part, for funding Scottish post offices after 2008.

Ross Finnie: The future of the post office network beyond 2008 is the subject of on-going consideration across Government. No decisions have yet been taken and it would be premature to speculate about what might be done.

Rail Network

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23924 by Tavish Scott on 16 March 2006, whether the change in name of this potential new railway station from Castlecary to Allandale indicates a change in preferred location for the station and, if so, what the preferred location is now.

Tavish Scott: The name of the proposed station at Castlecary was changed to Allandale at the suggestion of the rail industry because there is already a Castlecary station on the national network in Somerset. The proposed site continues to be the former Castlecary brickworks.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Rail Services

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has examined the case for providing funding for an early morning direct train service from Carlisle and Lockerbie to Edinburgh.

Tavish Scott: The Executive has not directly considered the case for an early morning service from Carlisle and Lockerbie to Edinburgh.

  Significant analysis of the market for such a service was included in a study for Dumfries and Galloway Council on the feasibility of introducing a local service on the West Coast Mainline between Carlisle and Glasgow. That study concluded that the economic and financial case for a commuter service on the route was not strong. A copy of the Executive’s response to the council on the report is held in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37720)

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Residential Care

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheltered housing wardens there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Roads

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it anticipates that the Route Action Plan for the A82 will be published.

Tavish Scott: The A82 Route Action Plan was made public on 19 April 2006. An Executive Summary of the Plan has been placed on the Transport Scotland website and can be found at:

  http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/uploads/documents/scott_wilson_A82_Route_action_plan_executive_summary_march_06.pdf.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to build a flyover across the A9 at Berriedale in Caithness.

Tavish Scott: We have no current plans in our existing programme of major schemes to build a flyover across the A9 at Berriedale. Transport Scotland has recently commenced work on a Strategic Transport Projects Review to consider, plan and prioritise transport infrastructure investment beyond our current committed projects. Such projects will be required to deliver the emerging National Transport Strategy and will be subject to appraisal under the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidelines (STAG).

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the then Minister for Justice received a letter dated 7 August 2001 from a former employee of the Scottish Criminal Record Office in which he states that "after commencing duty at the SCRO Bureau I was shocked and appalled at the level of malpractice" and whether a copy of this letter was also received by the Lord Advocate; what action the (a) Minister for Justice and (b) Lord Advocate took to address this and other statements in the letter, and what the outcome was of any action taken.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23612 on 20 April 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that the identification of Shirley McKie’s fingerprint in 1997 has been disputed within the Scottish Criminal Record Office from the outset.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23968 on 13 April 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Executive Departments

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005 each of its departments failed to meet timetables in respect of transposition of EU directives.

Mr Tom McCabe: Responding to this question involves considerable background investigation due to changes in reporting since 2004. This information is currently being gathered and I will write to you as soon as our answer is complete. A copy of the information will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39441).

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to amend the provisions of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 to ensure that any person who has complaints against an organisation which has reported itself to the ombudsman under section 2.2 of the act will not only be informed of the reporting as a matter of entitlement but will also be interviewed by the ombudsman before any decision or conclusion about the complaint is reached.

George Lyon: The Scottish Executive has no such plans.

Voluntary Sector

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered volunteers there have been in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Johann Lamont: There is no central register of volunteers for which we can report data. However, the Scottish Household Survey has data on the rate of volunteering from 1999. The Scotland-wide rates of volunteering in each year from 1999 are as follows.

  

 Year
 Rate of Volunteering (%)


 1999
 19


 2000
 26


 2001
 25


 2002
 27


 2003
 24


 2004
 23



  The Scottish Household Survey does not have data in each local authority for every year, due to the size of the sample. We have published local authority figures as follows:

  

 Local Authority
 2000
 2001-02 (combined)
 2003-04 (combined)


 Rate of Volunteering (%)
 Base
 Rate of Volunteering (%)
 Base
 Rate of Volunteering (%)
 Base


 Aberdeen City
 26
 598
 25
 1,164
 23
 1,062


 Aberdeenshire
 34
 548
 32
 1,127
 27
 1,159


 Angus
 23
 312
 32
 634
 27
 587


 Argyll and Bute
 41
 302
 28
 547
 35
 523


 Clackmannanshire
 27
 284
 26
 520
 23
 539


 Dumfries and Galloway
 32
 420
 30
 774
 27
 783


 Dundee City
 22
 366
 17
 788
 15
 779


 East Ayrshire
 28
 356
 28
 670
 22
 648


 East Dunbartonshire
 32
 263
 31
 556
 32
 498


 East Lothian
 31
 266
 37
 553
 25
 503


 East Renfrewshire
 31
 230
 27
 506
 22
 565


 Edinburgh City
 31
 1,185
 29
 2,231
 24
 2,299


 Eilean Siar
 27
 295
 29
 630
 27
 532


 Falkirk
 24
 389
 24
 746
 21
 771


 Fife
 25
 885
 25
 1,767
 23
 1,973


 Glasgow City
 17
 1,690
 21
 3,034
 21
 3,116


 Highland
 40
 521
 33
 1,081
 33
 1,023


 Inverclyde
 30
 285
 21
 499
 18
 526


 Midlothian
 27
 266
 31
 604
 23
 529


 Moray
 31
 310
 26
 581
 26
 582


 North Ayrshire
 34
 390
 24
 727
 21
 695


 North Lanarkshire
 15
 729
 18
 1,546
 18
 1,628


 Orkney
 38
 251
 37
 614
 42
 635


 Perth and Kinross
 39
 362
 33
 674
 34
 600


 Renfrewshire
 18
 531
 17
 899
 21
 938


 Scottish Borders
 38
 279
 41
 608
 27
 633


 Shetland
 55
 269
 38
 606
 23
 639


 South Ayrshire
 29
 298
 27
 654
 26
 590


 South Lanarkshire
 19
 758
 26
 1,525
 21
 1,492


 Stirling
 32
 284
 31
 570
 26
 552


 West Dunbartonshire
 20
 270
 24
 499
 17
 461


 West Lothian
 21
 362
 23
 733
 20
 811


 Scotland
 26
 14,554
 26
 28,667
 23
 28,671



  In addition, the Scottish Household Survey has data on the larger local authorities and local authority groups for intervening years as follows:

  

 Local Authority
 2001
 2003


 Rate of Volunteering (%)
 Base
 Rate of Volunteering (%)
 Base


 Edinburgh
 28
 1,178
 25
 1,090


 Glasgow
 18
 1,585
 24
 1,487


 Fife
 26
 864
 22
 939


 North Lanarkshire
 17
 794
 18
 796


 South Lanarkshire
 21
 781
 22
 751


 Highlands and Islands
 30
 2,034
 31
 1,946


 Grampian
 26
 1,174
 26
 1,088


 Tayside
 26
 1,029
 24
 990


 Central
 24
 931
 21
 869


 Dunbartonshire
 26
 544
 24
 454


 Renfrewshire and Inverclyde
 24
 999
 21
 1,002


 Ayrshire
 26
 1,077
 20
 906


 Lothians
 31
 942
 22
 898


 Southern Scotland
 37
 703
 31
 709


 Scotland 
 25
 14,635
 24
 13925



  Notes:

  1. Answers have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Accordingly, averages of figures in the above tables may differ from published figures for the relevant years.

  2. Margins of error will vary according the sample size.

  3. The increase between 1999 and 2000 in overall volunteering rates is thought to be due to a change in the question from "Do you give up any time to help as a volunteer or organiser for any charities, clubs or organisations these days?" whereas in 2000 the question was, "Thinking back over the last 12 months, have you given up any time to help any clubs, charities, campaigns or organisations?"

  4. The above local authority data has all been published in the Annual Reports of the Scottish Household Survey. While 2000 figures are published, the intention is that local authority data is only reported at two yearly intervals as the samples are more likely to be robust, especially for smaller authorities, and this is pattern from 2001 onwards.

  5. The Scottish Household Survey reports are available on www.scotland.gov.uk/shs.

  6. The questionnaire methodology has been changed for 2005, so the 2005 figure will not be comparable with the previous time-series. The 2005 figures will be released with the Annual Report of the Scottish Household Survey in August 2006.

Voluntary Sector

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people have become registered volunteers in each year since the launch of Volunteer Development Scotland.

Johann Lamont: There is no central register of volunteers for which we can report data. However, the Scottish Household Survey has data on the rate of volunteering from 1999. We do not hold time-series data from before then, so cannot give an indication of volunteering rates from all the years from 1984, when Volunteer Development Scotland, an independent body, was established.

  The annual rates of volunteering for 16 to 24-year-olds from the Scottish Household Surveys,1999-2004 are as follows.

  

 Year
 Rate of Volunteering (%)


 1999
 17


 2000
 24


 2001
 20


 2002
 22


 2003
 18


 2004
 21



  Notes:

  1. Answers have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Accordingly averages of figures in the tables may differ from published figures for the relevant years.

  2. The increase between 1999 and 2000 is thought to be due to a change in the question from "Do you give up any time to help as a volunteer or organiser for any charities, clubs or organisations these days?" whereas in 2000 the question was, "Thinking back over the last 12 months, have you given up any time to help any clubs, charities, campaigns or organisations?"

  3. The Scottish Household Survey reports are available on www.scotland.gov.uk/shs.

  4. The questionnaire methodology has been changed for 2005, so the 2005 figure will not be comparable with the previous time-series. The 2005 figures will be released with the Annual Report of the Scottish Household Survey in August 2006.